Written Answers Friday 2 May 2008

Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many offences of selling alcohol to under 18-year-olds have been detected as a result of the national roll-out of the test purchasing of alcohol; how many of these have resulted in (a) prosecution and (b) conviction of licensees operating (i) on-sales and (ii) off-sales premises as defined by the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976, and how many prosecutions for these offences are presently pending.

Right Hon Elish Angiolini QC: Between 10 December 2007 and 31 March 2008 106 reports identified by the police as arising from test purchase operations were made to the Procurator Fiscal. A number of these were wrongly classified and it is not possible to distinguish between on-sales and off-sales in terms of prosecution decisions. Information is currently available on 60 reports and the position is as follows:

  Test Purchasing – Reports Received by PF, 10 December 2007 – March 2008

  

 No. of Reports Received
 Prosecution Decision Outstanding
 Prosecution in process
 Direct Measures
 Convictions
 No Further Proceedings


 60
 14
 23
 20
 2
 1



  Notes:

  Two convictions have been recorded since the test purchasing roll-out. In one of the cases there were two accused who both pled guilty to contraventions of the legislation. The accused were fined £135 each.

  In the other case an accused was fined £60.

  Prosecution arrangements for the roll-out of alcohol test purchasing are being monitored internally and a review will be undertaken in June 2008.

Alcohol Misuse

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether during the test purchasing of alcohol pilot scheme in Fife, only licensed premises which failed two test purchases were subject to prosecution by the Crown Office and, if so, whether this position has changed following the national roll-out of the test purchasing, and whether there has been a change in prosecution policy and, if so, what the reasons are.

Right Hon Elish Angiolini QC: During the test purchasing of alcohol pilot scheme in Fife the prosecutor assigned to deal with such reports took account of all the information provided by the police and made a decision on the merits of each individual case. He also was aware of the educational campaign to raise awareness amongst licensees and their staff about the illegal sale of alcohol to those under age which took place as part of the pilot. In the event licensed premises which failed only one test purchase were not subject to prosecution but there was no blanket policy not to prosecute in these cases. It remains the fact that there is no such blanket policy. In making prosecution decisions prosecutors will, of course, take account of the fact that most test purchase operations now arise as the result of police intelligence concerning illegal activity and premises are not visited routinely, as they were during the pilot.

  Prosecution arrangements for the roll-out of alcohol test purchasing are being monitored internally and a review will be undertaken in June 2008.

Alcohol Misuse

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there have been fresh instructions issued to procurators fiscal by the Crown Office in relation to prosecution of those allegedly selling alcohol to those under 18-year-olds and, if so, what these instructions are.

Right Hon Elish Angiolini QC: Prosecutors are always issued with guidance about any significant change in the law which is likely to have an impact on them. Guidance was provided to prosecution staff before the roll-out of test purchasing to all Scottish police forces on 10 December 2007. The approach to be taken in such cases is in line with the requirements set out in the Prosecution Code. Prosecutors will consider all the information provided by the police, including previous convictions, reliable intelligence concerning illegal activity of this kind on the premises, any aggravating circumstances and any test purchase failures referred to in the police report.

  Prosecution arrangements for the roll out of alcohol test purchasing are being monitored internally and a review will be undertaken in June 2008.

Bees

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to provide extra protection for Scottish bees against disease and, in particular, to expedite approval of treatments such as Apivar and oxalic acid; whether it has identified any enhanced funding for such protection, and whether any other specific assistance to bee farming, including the development of a bee health strategy, are envisaged in the future.

Richard Lochhead: The approval of veterinary medicines, including those for the treatment of bee pests and diseases, is a reserved matter.

  Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture provides a free diagnostic service to beekeepers who suspect that their hives may be infected by pests or diseases. This service is funded by the Scottish Government’s rural directorate at a cost of £17,500 per annum.

  A further £62,000 per annum is provided to the Scottish Agricultural College to fund a comprehensive advisory, training and education programme for beekeepers with the objective of improving the knowledge of and standards in bee husbandry.

  The Scottish Government is preparing a strategy for Scotland which will be issued in the near future to interested parties for comment and discussion.

Bridges

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions the Forth Road Bridge has been closed to traffic since January 2008.

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions the Forth Road Bridge was closed to traffic in each of the last five years.

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions since 1 January 2008 the Forth Road Bridge has been closed to traffic or traffic has been limited (a) north and (b) south bound.

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions in (a) 2003, (b) 2004, (c) 2005, (d) 2006 and (e) 2007 the Forth Road Bridge was closed to traffic or traffic has been limited (a) north and (b) south bound.

Stewart Stevenson: This information is not held centrally. Traffic management at the Forth Road Bridge is a matter for the Forth Estuary Transport Authority.

Communities Scotland

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the anticipated effect is of the abolition of Communities Scotland on the funding for, and assessment of, local regeneration projects.

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Government will continue to support regeneration activity around the country, in particular through the new Fairer Scotland Fund, through the significant new funding for Urban Regeneration Companies, through the Wider Role programme and through its on-going investment in affordable housing. The assessment of local projects will be carried out by the Housing and Regeneration Directorate.

Concessionary Travel

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take, following the late dispatch to island based national concessionary travel card holders of their 2008-09 ferry vouchers, to ensure that the vouchers are, in future years, sent out well in advance of the start of the period which they cover.

Stewart Stevenson: For future financial years Transport Scotland are arranging with the ferry voucher production company to print and issue ferry vouchers in January of each year. Vouchers will display a start date of 1 April and expiry date of 31 March the following year.

Council Tax

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how council tax is calculated for full-time students.

John Swinney: Information on how council tax is calculated for full time students is contained in the leaflet Council Tax in Scotland – A Guide for Students, Student Nurses, Apprentices, Skillseekers and School Leavers , available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/localgov/ctst-00.asp .

Culture

Stuart McMillan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) funding and (b) assistance has been given to the College of Piping in each of the last nine years to promote Scottish traditional music.

Linda Fabiani: The College of Piping does not receive funding or assistance from the Scottish Government.

  In 1999, the Scottish Arts Council provided the College of Piping with £18,819 towards the cost of a study and options appraisal for new college premises.

Freight

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the £5.2 million Freight Facilities Grant for a railhead at Barrhill, South Ayrshire, announced in January 2006, has been utilised.

Stewart Stevenson: Once JST Services withdrew their application for Freight Facilities Grant the funding allocated to the Barrhill project reverted to the national freight grant budget.

Immigration

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the Home Office on immigration rules and legislation.

Kenny MacAskill: Representations to the Home Office on immigration rules and legislation have covered six broad subjects: the points based immigration rules, asylum seekers and the rights children, the displacement of UK medical graduates, academic visitors to Scotland, citizenship and policing issues.

  Written representations by Scottish ministers are underpinned by meetings, exchanges and correspondence at both official and ministerial level and have included: First Minister to Home Secretary on the subject of asylum seekers (1 August 2007 and 17 September 2007); Cabinet Secretary for Health and Well Being to the Home Office Minister of State (9 October 2007) and to the Home Secretary (5 January 2008) on the subject of medical graduates and the highly skilled migrants programme; Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning to Home Office Minister of State on the subject of asylum seekers (17 December 2007); Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning to Home Office Minister of State on the subject of academic visitors (19 March 2008), and First Minister to Home Secretary on the subject of Citizenship (25 March 2008).

  Scottish ministers have also made representations on the points based immigration system covering: the scope for Scottish flexibilities within the system; a reduced qualifying period for settlement in Scotland; the criteria for Tier One - Post Study (the successor to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme), including retaining Scottish HNDs as an eligible qualification; Scottish representation on the Migration Advisory Committee and the Migration Impacts Forum, and the potential impact on Scotland’s cultural festivals and sports events, the Asian restaurant trade and Japanese investment (as a result of the English language requirement).

  Official discussions on policing have also been conducted, covering the implications for Scotland of extending police powers to immigration officers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the UK Borders Review, which led to establishment of the UK Borders Agency from April 2008.

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many cases since 1945 the defence has not been given access to a piece of evidence or document which has been revealed to the prosecution; whether there are any precedents where a document has been disclosed to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission but not to the defence in a subsequent appeal hearing; whether the legal opinion of the Crown Office is that the withholding of documents in any such cases would violate the principle of the separation of powers between Executive and Judiciary, and, if so, what it considers the impact would be of withholding of documents on the independence of the Scottish Judiciary, Scots Law and the Crown Office itself.

Right Hon Elish Angiolini QC: It would be inappropriate to refer to any particular case which is before the courts.

  However, the duty on the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) to disclose evidence to the defence is set out in The Crown’s Principles of Disclosure, available on the COPFS website as part of the COPFS Disclosure Manual, as follows:

  1. The Crown is obliged to disclose all material evidence for or against the accused. This relates to statements, but it also relates to all information of which the Crown is aware.

  2. "Material" means evidence which is likely to be of real importance to any undermining of the Crown case, or to any casting reasonable doubt on it, and of positive assistance to the accused."

  This does not mean that the Crown should disclose all information in its possession but that the Crown requires to consider all information for disclosure, and disclose any information which meets the test set out above, subject to any consideration of public interest immunity (PII).

  COPFS does not hold information about the number of cases where documents in the possession of the prosecution have not been disclosed to the defence.

Meat Industry

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects further support to be given to pig farmers.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government has already given Quality Meat Scotland £30,000 for a strategic review of the Scottish pig sector and £300,000 to examine opportunities for adding value to the "fifth quarter" (offal products) in the red meat sector. Further funding is available to assist other projects designed to secure the long-term resilience of the red meat sector, including the pig sector.

  Along with the industry, we have established a short-life task force to recommend further action aimed at helping the sector. This task force has now met on two occasions and is moving forward with an agreed programme of work.

Meat Industry

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pig farms it believes are sustainable in Scotland.

Richard Lochhead: There are 945 pig holdings in Scotland, including 440 for breeding. Environmental legislation is in place to ensure environmental sustainability. Financial sustainability is heavily dependent upon commercial factors, including prices paid to farmers and the cost of feed.

Ministerial Travel

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-10408 by John Swinney on 11 March 2008, when the Cabinet Secretary will write to me and whether the information on overnight hotel stays by the First Minister will be published.

John Swinney: The information requested is nearing completion and I will write to the member and place a copy of the letter in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45494) as soon as the information is available.

Older People

Michael Matheson (Falkirk West) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to restrict the availability of free personal care for older people.

Shona Robison: We have no plans to restrict current access to free personal care for older people.

  We asked Lord Sutherland to review the funding and sustainability of the free personal and nursing care policy. He published his report on 28 April. We will make a statement to Parliament shortly setting out our formal response to the report and the progress of dialogue with local government to address shared concerns about the clarity and practical aspects of the policy.

Parliamentary Questions

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide a substantive answer to question S3W-10421 which received a holding answer on 11 March 2008.

John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10421 on 12 March 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Planning

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has sought guidance from the European Commission on planning consent for major developments on land designated under the EU habitats directive which are under consideration by ministers.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the European Commission on development on land designated under the EU habitats directive and whether it will publish any correspondence on this issue.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government has had no discussion with the European Commission regarding specific development on land designated under the EU Habitats Directive.

Planning

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how the interests of communities in the Scottish Borders will be protected in decisions taken by the Strategic Development Planning Authority for the area.

Stewart Stevenson: Planning Circular 2/2008 provides guidance on the establishment of Strategic Development Planning Authorities. Each SDP Authority will be a partnership between the relevant Planning Authorities representing the interests of their constituents. Scottish Borders Council should therefore have an equal say in the decision-making of the SDP Authority.

  Final approval of a Strategic Development Plan will be for Scottish ministers. In the unlikely event of consensus not being reached on the content of the strategic development plan, an individual planning authority may submit alternative proposals to Scottish ministers. Communities with concerns may submit formal representations on the proposed development plan, and the issues raised will be examined by a reporter appointed by Scottish ministers.

Planning

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what vote weighting systems will be established in decisions made by strategic development planning authorities.

Stewart Stevenson: The governance arrangements for the new strategic development planning authorities will be for the authorities themselves to establish. However, planning authorities will be required to have regard to the guidance on SDPAs which Scottish ministers have issued as Planning Circular 2/2008. This advises that SDPAs should form a joint committee of members representing the constituent planning authorities, and that the membership of the joint committee should be on an equal basis, with the same number of councillors from each authority.

Public Transport

Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to support bus passengers in Fife, in light of the recent announcement by Stagecoach in Fife to raise bus fares.

Stewart Stevenson: Bus fares are a matter for individual operators who use their own commercial judgement as to the fare structure to be applied, taking into account the level of patronage, in order to provide a viable service. The Scottish Government provides an annual subsidy of around £61 million to the bus industry, the aim of which is to reduce fares from the level they might otherwise be. This substantial subsidy, bus service operators grant, recognises the public service aspect of bus services.

Rail Network

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the process of extending the ScotRail franchise began.

Stewart Stevenson: Autumn 2006.

Rail Network

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any estimate was made of cost to the public purse of delaying a decision on the extension of the ScotRail franchise until after the publication of Audit Scotland’s report into the issue and, if so, what the estimated cost was.

Stewart Stevenson: Prior to the decision to extend the First ScotRail Franchise, a value for money assessment was undertaken. The principles of awarding an extension were carefully examined against the alternative of a re-franchise. This examination covered performance to date; incentives for future growth; transaction costs; risk and uncertainty, and the wider economic context.

  A business case for extending the contract was clearly identified.

  Extensive modelling was undertaken to predict future revenue collection under a number of separate scenarios. This identified the impact on the revenue share and support mechanisms included in the contract.

  The supporting evidence and information is commercially confidential.

Rail Services

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what opportunities there will be for additional rail services or other enhancements to be negotiated for the duration of the extended ScotRail franchise and how it will consult on any such enhancements.

Stewart Stevenson: The franchise agreement as extended contains a variation mechanism which will allow enhancements, in addition to those secured at fixed price through the extension, to be negotiated at any time during the contract’s duration. Normal consultation processes will be used when appropriate.

Rail Services

Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions were held with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, prior to meeting with First Group plc to discuss extension of the ScotRail franchise, regarding service provision and enhancement in the Strathclyde area.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member the ministerial statement, I gave to Parliament on 17 April 2008, column 7712 and to the First Minister’s answer to question S3F-676 on the 17 April 2008. The Official Report can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-08/sor0417-01.htm.

Rail Services

Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the consequences of the terms of the extension to the ScotRail franchise will be for all regional transport partnerships.

Stewart Stevenson: The extension to the franchise contract will allow regional transport partnerships to take account of proposed rail service improvements in their plans.

Renewable Energy

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it would, in principle, support a subsea cable along the west coast of Scotland for the transmission of electricity.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government believes that subsea electricity transmission options should be explored if we are to fully capitalise on our renewables potential. We are therefore involved in two studies, one of which will examine potential grid links from the west coast of Scotland to Ireland.

  The aim of these studies is to help make the case for long-term commercial investment.

Renewable Energy

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it would support a proposal from the National Grid for a subsea cable along the west coast of Scotland for the transmission of electricity.

Jim Mather: We would be interested in any proposal for offshore grid development which could help capitalise on Scotland’s renewables potential.

  We will consider all the available evidence, including the results of our own subsea grid studies, to inform future discussions on grid development options with National Grid, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and other stakeholders.

Renewable Energy

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that a proposal from the National Grid for a subsea cable along the west coast of Scotland should be taken into consideration before any final decision is taken on the Beauly to Denny electricity transmission power line.

Jim Mather: Scottish ministers will give full consideration to the report of the Beauly to Denny public inquiry and all other material considerations, including any relating to alternative options such as subsea cables, before determining the application.

Roads

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects Holyrood Road in Edinburgh to be free of roadworks.

Stewart Stevenson: Holyrood Road in Edinburgh is a local road and is therefore the responsibility of the City of Edinburgh Council.

Schools

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities have in all cases maintained in real terms the budget for the specialist music schools following the removal of the ring fenced nature of previous funding.

Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government has recently established a new working relationship with local government. It entered into a concordat with COSLA on 14 November 2007 which sets out a set of shared objectives and underpins the funding to be provided to local government up to 2011. The settlement provides local authorities with total funding of £34.9 billion, an increase of 13.1% over the next three years, a figure which includes the former specific grant for centres of excellence such as the specialist music schools.

  Alongside that increase in funding, the Scottish Government has also devolved significant controls and flexibilities to local government in how councils spend that resource and local authorities need to extend that principle within their authorities as far as possible. It is the responsibility of each council to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of their local needs and priorities.

Supermarkets

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake an audit of supermarkets to ensure that all fresh foodstuffs labelled as Scottish are Scottish.

Richard Lochhead: We are keen to promote quality fresh local produce and to ensure that this reaches the supermarket shelf. Where products are Scottish we would wish them to be clearly labelled as Scottish and we are actively engaging with both producers and retailers to determine how best this can be achieved.

Supermarkets

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake an audit of supermarkets to ensure that all fresh produce conforms to British welfare standards.

Richard Lochhead: We are asking our pig industry task force to consider the need for possible actions to assist the pig sector, including an audit of standards, transparency and labelling of imported pork. We have also commissioned an advisory letter from the Farm Animal Welfare Council on the different welfare standards which apply in pig production systems in the UK, other European member states and third countries which export pig meat to the UK.

Tourism

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the value of wildlife-watching tourism is to the economy.

Jim Mather: Figures are not available for the value of wildlife-watching tourism to the Scottish economy as a whole. For the Highlands and Islands area only, research in 2005 estimated that a net annual expenditure of £84.5 million and the equivalent of 1,651 full-time jobs were supported by wildlife tourism. Further information on this study is available at http://www.greentourism.org.uk .

Voluntary Sector

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to work in partnership with the voluntary sector to support new ways of delivering services.

John Swinney: We recently announced record funding for councils of voluntary service, recognising that their network business plan specifically offers to enhance the connection between the third sector and local authorities which should further improve the contribution which the sector makes to the design and delivery of services. We are supporting the development of public social partnerships and the creation of compacts between the sector and local authorities, both which will build on the partnership approach.

  Overall, we believe the third sector has a substantial contribution to make to the growth of the economy, not least through the innovative way it designs and delivers services.